Rewinding Mohammed Rafi classics

He had a voice as soft as velvet. His singing brought out the emotion of every song that came his way. Mohammed Rafi remains one of India’s most loved singers.

On his 45th death anniversary (July 31), The Hindu rewinds his best songs.

Man re tu kahe na

Rafi has sung several timeless classics, but it is difficult to pick too many better than this Roshan composition for the 1964 film Chitralekha. Based on raga Yaman Kalyan, this song soothes your senses.

When Outlook magazine conducted a poll a couple of decades ago, among music composers, singers and lyricists, to pick the greatest Hindi film songs of all time, this one topped the list. While you could differ with some of the songs they selected, you will not with this one.

Kabhi khud pe

Hum Dono had fabulous music by Jaidev. The Lata-Rafi duet Abhi na jaao chodkar may be the most popular song from the album, and there is also the Lata Mangeshkar bhajan, Allah tero nam. Still, there is something about this Rafi classic.

When Lata brought out the album Shradhanjali as a tribute to great singers, she had chosen this song and Man re tu kahe na to pay her homage to Rafi. Her versions were beautiful, too.

Mere mehboob tujhe

Few actors could romance the beautiful Bollywood heroine like Rajendra Kumar. And he very often had sweet melodies to woo those beauties. Like this song tuned by Naushad for the 1963 film Mere Mehboob. Rafi’s rendition dips and honey and love.

There is an equally delicious version of the song by Lata. And those scenes, that appeared on Doordarshan on a Saturday evening on the Onida television set in the north Kerala town of Kalpetta, are still fresh in memory.

Din dhal jaaye

R.K. Narayan’s novel The Guide was ahead of its time and its hero Raju remains one of the most powerful characters in Indian English fiction.

Dev Anand played Raju on the screen in the 1965 film Guide. The novel was also made in English and its script was written by the Nobel Prize-winning American novelist Pearl S. Buck.

Raju’s emotions came alive through his voice in this evergreen melody.

The film’s music by score by S.D. Burman was exceptional. Songs like Piya tose naina, Tere mere sapne, Aaj phir jeene ki, Saiyaan beimaan, Kya se kya ho gaya and Gaata rahe mera dil, make it one of the greatest albums of all time in Hindi cinema.

Phir miloge kabhi

This may not be the most anthologised of Rafi’s songs, but it is a rare gem. Tuned by O.P. Nayyar, who was more popular for his peppier compositions, this is a gorgeous song, set in raga Yaman Kalyan, for the 1966 film Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi. And Rafi had Asha Bhosle for company.

The song is a visual delight in black-and-white too, thanks in no measure to the mesmerising presence of Sharmila Tagore, who looked incredibly beautiful in her Amrapali costume. Few women could express shyness and innocence the way she could.

Baharon phool barsao

One of the all-time popular romantic songs of Indian cinema, and not without reason. Shankar-Jaikishan gave an achingly sweet tune to some lovely poetry by Hasrat Jaipuri and Rafi’s singing ensured its immortality. On screen Rajendra Kumar romanced a blushing Vyjayanthimala, whose natural dancer’s grace would make you the click the replay button on YouTube.

The song, based on raga Shivranjani, was voted in 2013 by BBC Asian Network as the greatest Bollywood song of all time.

Baad muddat ke yeh ghadi

Madan Mohan created sheer magic with his music. He was in a class of his own and he came up with one brilliant song after another, most often through the voice of his muse, Lata Mangeshkar. But this vastly underrated song, from the 1964 Jahan Ara, was rendered by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur, and they both were brilliant.

It is a pity that the song failed to catch the popular imagination. It should have, even in an album as extraordinary as Jahan Ara (Woh chup rahe to, Phir wohi shaam, Jab jab tumhe bhulaaya, Mein teri nazar ka, Haal-e-dil yun unhe).

As for Baad muddat ke yeh ghadi, it may make you think of very popular song of the 1990s – Mujhse naraaz ho to, from the film Papa Kahte Hain, one of Sonu Nigam’s best.

Maine poocha chaand se

R.D. Burman’s favourite singer, by a long distance, was Kishore Kumar, and together they came up some of Indian cinema’s finest songs. RD, however, gave this song, from the 1980 film Abdullah, to Rafi. The result was pure magic. The superior recording quality of the time also helped.

Chaudhvin ka chand ho

One of Rafi’s most popular songs, from the 1960 film Chaudhvin ka Chand. Composer Ravi’s tune was perfect for this love poem by Shakeel Badayuni.

Ae phoolon ki rani

Another gorgeous tune by Shankar-Jaikishan, the most gifted of the composer duos, of whom there have been quite a few in Bollyood. This is from the 1965 film Arzoo, for which also rendered two other great melodies, Aji humse bachkar and Chalke teri ankhon se. The film also featured two beautiful Lata songs – Aji rooth kar ab and Bedardi baalma.

There are, of course, many other Rafi songs that continue to delight us. Songs like Teri ankhon ke siva (Chirag), O duniya ke rakhwale (Bhagwan), Kya hua tere waada (Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin), Yeh reshmi zulfen (Do Raaste), Yeh mera prempatr pad kar (Sangam), Tu is tarah meri zindagi (Aap To Aisa Na The), Pardesiyon se na akhiyan (Jab Jab Phool Khile)...